I know Hf. I’ve yet to figure out how TODobots, hang in the village, work/go to post secondary, go to the movies, watch TV, listen to music enough to be able to pick ‘mood’ music instantly, keep an eye on the Obamas, converse on twitter/facebook, as well as eat, do groceries, and do housework! I consider it multi-tasking if I can hang in the village AND answer the phone or doorbell sensibly when it rings.

It took me a long time to catch up with Downton Abbey as well. Last year on Christmas, our PBS channel showed the entire 2nd season in one day, that was awesome! But I have learned that if I wait a week, and schedule 2 episodes at once, I enjoy it more. I don’t watch tv, you know, so it is hard even to turn it on at all! So tonight I shall decline episode 1, in favor of celebrating the Epiphany, which is the anniversary of my Dad’s passing (’97), and then next Sunday I shall watch episode 1 & 2, for three full hours of Downton! Then I will skip the 20th, and watch 2 hours on the 27th. That way I don’t have the tv on every week, and get a real immersion in the storyline! (I don’t mind being a week behind the rest of the world!)

It has been a long time –but I have been with you the whole way.. Now 86 in a wheel chair, but able to do lots of scooting around.
It was such a great trip getting the president back in… now president Obama Will hopefully have the loyalty of all of us!!

Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) destroyed Republican talking points regarding the debt ceiling on Face the Nation, and then upped the ante for more revenue.

Asked on Face the Nation if Democrats are willing to make cuts to “entitlements” to address the deficit, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) pointed out, “We already have.” She then referenced ObamaCare’s $716 billion cuts to Medicare providers, and was after she mentioned the over one trillion in cuts Democrats already put on the table.

When she was asked about Speaker John Boehner’s plan to require a dollar for dollar match in cuts to amount the debt ceiling is raised, the former Speaker clarified that the debt ceiling is about money already spent, and is not the place to argue about budgets, “I don’t think these two things should be related.”

Pelosi was so much better than John Boehner. Boehner must be satisfied to say that he was speaker of the House, because he can’t say he was a good speaker. He will go down in history as one of the worst.

But the enabling isn’t just happening in Congress, it’s happening in the media, as well, which is why another thing I would like to make clear is that those who see debt ceiling lunacy as a legitimate side in a debate or just one more interesting point of view among many are just as culpable in what could be a pending economic calamity as the lunatics themselves. I’m not alone in this concern. Greg Sargent has done a fine job outlining the logical fallacy behind legitimizing debt ceiling hostage taking and notes in particular that by and large, the media has framed the entire fiscal debate incorrectly:
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Exactly right: we should not be talking about a “debate” over the debt ceiling, or portraying a rise in the debt ceiling as a thing that Democrats “want” or are bargaining to obtain.

It is the constitutional duty of Congress to raise the debt limit, but our lazy members of the MSM can’t/won’t say this because sensationalism sells. They should be telling Americans that no cuts are demanded from any member of Congress where raising the debt limit is concerned, and that republicans’ desire to shutdown the government over the issue is 100% pure madness.

“It is the constitutional duty of Congress to raise the debt limit, but our lazy members of the MSM can’t/won’t say this because sensationalism sells.”

You are bsolutely, spot-on, Majiir! Article I, section 8 of the U.S. Constitution clearly states that Congress has the sole responsibility for paying the debts incurred by the United States Here is what Article I, section 8 states:

“The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and the general welfare of the United States….”

The 14th Amendment’s section 4 simply re-states the government’s obligation to honor the debts incurred by the United states. As per Section 4, of the 14th Amendment:

” The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law…shall not be questioned.”

As far as I am concerned, raising the debt ceiling to pay the debts already incurred by the United States is solely the responsibility of Congress and therefore should not be subject to negotiations between Congress and the President.

In my humble opinion, If Congress refuses to pay the debts incurred by the United States, then it’s Congress which would be in violation of its Constitutional responsibilities as per Article I, section 8; and section 4, of the 14th Amendment.

Sadly, our inept and unethical mainstream media will muddy the waters by blaming both sides: the President and the Congress. Then our born again, holier than thou liberal/progressives will chime in and blame the President for being weak by not invoking the 14th Amendment remedy. The born again, holier than thou, liberal/progressives will blame the President without ever specifically pointing out how the 14th Amendment’s section 4, gives the President the power to raise the debt ceiling.

I ve read and read the congressional debates about the 14th Amendment. I just can’t find any evidence that the Amendment’s section 4 gave the President the power to usurp Congress’ power of the purse clearly stated in Article I. section 8. of the original U.S. Constitution.

My bottom line is: If Congress refuses to raise the debt ceiling, and thus fail to pay the public debt of the United States, then it’s the majority members of Congress who elect to do so that are violating their Constitutional responsibilities and not the President who insists on honoring the Constitution. This what our so called 4th Estate should be communicating with the people. It’s the Republican members of Congress, not the President, who are violating their Constitutional responsibilities.

The largest solar-electric generator in Minnesota has flipped on the switch — the latest sign of a banner year for solar installations.

Renewable power developer Ecos Energy said 7,040 solar panels outside of Slayton, Minn., began producing power Friday after being connected to Xcel Energy’s distribution system. The solar array is the largest in the state, with 2 megawatts of output, the equivalent of the power used by 250 homes.

The project has 32 rows of solar panels covering an area the size of 7 1/2 football fields on what once was a cornfield.

“There was no celebration, but it is nice to get these things running,” said Chris Little, director of development for Ecos Energy, based in Minneapolis.

Solar installations are up dramatically in Minnesota and across the United States. In Minnesota, twice as much solar capacity was installed in 2012 compared with the prior year, as more than 250 projects, large and small, went online, state data shows.

That list doesn’t include the Slayton project, which came online in 2013. It does include the solar array atop the Bloomington Ikea store completed in August. Ikea briefly held the state record for the biggest solar generator, at 1 megawatt, and now slips to No. 2.

Across the country, new solar installations through the third quarter already were ahead of 2011’s, thanks partly to a steady drop in solar panel prices, according to a GTM Research report for the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Wind energy would power the equivalent of about 1 in 4 New Hampshire households if companies proceed with plans to build five proposed wind farms over the next several years to join three others already in service.

Opponents, however, say the higher costs, government subsidies and impact on the landscape aren’t worth the price for renewable energy.

The state’s third wind farm, a $120 million project in Groton featuring 48 turbines, became operational Dec. 28, joining wind farms in Lempster and the Dixville Notch area.

Companies are “looking at New Hampshire’s wind resource and drawing up some of these proposals,” said Timothy Drew, a staffer on the New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee, whose approval is needed before wind projects get developed.

At least two more projects are expected to receive key decisions from the Site Evaluation Committee next month.

The committee will start its deliberations on the Antrim wind farm on Feb. 5 at the Public Utilities Commission office in Concord. The deliberations will precede a decision on whether to green light the construction. An appeal would delay the project.

For a proposed wind farm in New Ipswich and Temple, Timbertop Wind I LLC wants the committee to take over jurisdiction to streamline the process. A decision on that also is expected in February, Drew said.

The extension of wind energy tax credits — passed as part of the fiscal cliff deal — includes a key change that will make it easier for wind ­developers in Massachusetts and elsewhere to obtain what are viewed as crucial incentives for a burgeoning industry.

In Massachusetts, the tax credits have helped spur new wind development. Last year, for example, at least half a dozen projects — including the largest in the state, the Hoosac wind farm in the towns of Florida and Monroe — doubled the state’s wind energy generated capacity over the last decade to 99 megawatts, or enough to power at least 26,000 homes.

Legislation passed by Congress on Tuesday ­extended two programs that support wind development, a growing segment of the energy mix in Massachusetts and the nation as policy makers seek clean energy sources to help combat climate change.

The production tax credit pays eligible projects 2.2 cents per kilowatt hour for the first 10 years of production, making the energy competitive with electricity generated by natural gas. The investment tax credit pays 30 percent of costs for small, community wind farms and offshore wind projects.

BTW Bob I meant to say I really enjoyed listening to Ike’s speech as he was leaving his Presidency. I am not old enough to remember it, but the thing I thought of when listening to him was what would today’s Republicans think of this man’s policy’s now? All this talk of ‘balance’ he spoke of and working together with all nations big and small. Things that would be anathema to them now.

Oh yes, Alice, even as Supreme Allied Commander and one of the most brilliant strategists of all time, Ike would be no more ‘at home’ in the Republican Party of today than Senator Hagel, Gen Powell, etc.

Bob, you forgot to include Ike’s granddaughter, Susan Eisenhower, who clearly stressed that she was uncomfortable with the current Republican party and endorsed President Obama in 2008! As always, VP Biden tells is it like it is: “Today’s Republican party is not the same as your fathers or grandfather’s Republican party.” I don’t even think it’s the same as the conservative party led by Barry Goldwater and William F. Buckley. The current Republican party resembles the the 19th century’s nativist “Know Nothing” Party with a heavy sprinkling of the 20th century John Birch society, and a very heavy dose KKK/Aryan nation ideology.

BYW, Clemons article is outstanding and reveals several important characteristics of Senator Hagel! I’m sure Senor & Todd will be choking with rage, but, as noted, they are so totally irrelevant it just doesn’t matter.

Chips, everyone … the more I thought about one segment of Clemons article the more I wanted to be sure all of you see it …

“I was then interested in whether this obvious hero in Israel’s military establishment had any reservations at all about Hagel’s larger views about Israel:

Clemons: In your interactions with Chuck Hagel did you ever experience any negativity about Israel, or its people or institutions?

Almog: Not at all. I must be fair. I heard about, and even read some articles about, his negative attitude towards Israel and I never met such an occurrence.

Look. One time one of my best friends from San Diego – a very good friend of mine – attracted my attention that Hagel was against signing a press request to release Jews from Russia. My friend is not Jewish. He said to me, “Look. See – your friend – see how he behaves!” He was the only Senator among the 100 that opposed the signature for that publication.

I sent it to Chuck, and he sent me back his letter to President Clinton, and what President Clinton answered to him. Those two letters were sent to me showing that he thought it was rather better to do it that way than doing it through the press – and he fully supported this claim to release the Jews, but to go through the President and not to the press. Although I understand he was the only Senator to take that position.

What Almog shared by way of an interesting anecdote is that Hagel in this case avoided jumping on a media bandwagon and used his role as a United States senator to make a difference in a policy matter, forgoing personal vanity or media puffery.”

‘…What Almog shared by way of an interesting anecdote is that Hagel in this case avoided jumping on a media bandwagon and used his role as a United States senator to make a difference in a policy matter, forgoing personal vanity or media puffery.”…’

And that’s exactly the sort of guy we want on our great President’s team …

It is quite apparent that Hagel embodies the integrity, honor, decency and the sense of propriety now so lacking in many of our Congresspeople and the media…

President Obama knows we must follow a very different path – he’s always evidenced his awareness of that fact. But, I think the consequences of #SandyHook will be way more far reaching in his decision making and actions during the next 4 years, and beyond, than altering the ‘gun culture’ in America.

Hi Bob, thanks for this wonderful tweet of Ike’s farewell Address. As far as I know, only two farewell addresses by former Presidents are worthy of remembrances: George Washington’s warning about “entangling alliances” and Dwight Eisenhower’s warning about the “Military iIndustrial Complex.” I’ve also always greatly admired Ike’s response to the 1957 Little Rock Crisis about School integration.

It has more to do with President Obama than the former senator from Nebraska.

By Fred Kaplan|Posted Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013, at 8:37 PM ET

————————————

No one could deny that AIPAC has an overpowering influence on many lawmakers. Hagel’s sin, in the eyes of some, was to call it the “Jewish lobby” instead of the “Israel lobby.” If this is a sin, AIPAC and its allies have brought it on themselves. For decades, they have thundered that criticism of Israel is thinly disguised anti-Semitism. Yet they cry “anti-Semitism” again when someone inverts the equation (which is what the phrase in question amounts to: If anti-Israel equals anti-Jewish, then pro-Israel equals pro-Jewish). As for saying that he’s a senator from Nebraska, not Israel: Had he or any other senator said this about any other country (“I’m not a senator from France … England … Canada” or wherever), no one would have batted an eye. To accuse him of anti-Semitism on these grounds is to reveal a staggeringly deep paranoia—or a sensitivity far too acute to be allowed any role in American politics.

An open letter from nine former U.S. ambassadors, five of them ex-ambassadors to Israel, strongly endorses Hagel for secretary of defense and rejects as ludicrous the charge that he’s anti-Semitic (as does the columnist Jeffrey Goldberg, who’s perceptive on such matters). Again, the complaints about Hagel are proxy-complaints about Obama, who is denounced by these critics as soft on Israel, even though the recently retired Israeli defense minister said that Obama has done more for Israeli security than any U.S. president in recent memory.

THE COMPLAINTS ABOUT HAGEL ARE “PROXY-COMPLAINTS” ABOUT PRESIDENT OBAMA. IT’S THAT SIMPLE. CHUCK HAGEL ONLY BECAME A PROBLEM BECAUSE PRESIDENT OBAMA FEELS HE IS RIGHT FOR THE JOB OF SECRETARY OF DEFENSE.

From wiki
“Hagel is a Vietnam War veteran, having served in the United States Army infantry, attaining the rank of Sergeant (E-5) from 1967 – 1968. He served as an infantry squad leader in the 9th Infantry Division.[10] Hagel served in the same infantry squad as his younger brother Tom, and they are believed to be the only American siblings to do so during the Vietnam War.[11] They also ended up saving each other’s lives on separate occasions.[12]

While serving during the Vietnam War, Hagel received the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, two Purple Hearts, Army Commendation Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.”

Mr. Axelrod, you are so right, but it’s sad to say something has happen to these Republicans of today. Number one they can’t stand that black President, number two they are a bunch of radical extreme right wing nuts.

David Axelrod is right! Chuck Hegel, like John Kerry, served our country honorably in the Vietnam War. Because of his service he is very sensitive about how our country decides to send our young men and women in the armed forces to war. For him, these brave young people are not pawns on chess board ready to be sacrificed by arm chair worriers who know absolutely zilch about the reality of war. The same could not be said of the Chikenhawks now attacking him. I don’t know if President Obama has settled on Chuck Hegel to be his SoD. If he has, he could not have chosen a more worthy person though he happens to be a Republican.

I thought Danny Glover was an actor in “The Color Purple.” So why am I getting emails from him asking me to demand that PBO nominate Paul Krugman for Treasury sec? With all due respect Mr. Glover, let PBO do HIS work while you do yours.

Why does everyone need to feel that can they tell this President what to do?

Hopefruit,
every idjit out there feels they can tell PBO what to do including the ones in former Clintons cabinet who did not say boo when Bill was dismantling the new deal.
Glover/Potier turned on PBO a long time and it was when i lost all the respect for these guys, especially Poitier who should understand what it is like when a blackman breaks new ground.

Great TV again with Downton Abbey. Looks like things could get mighty interesting between Mary and Matthew. Sometimes she just wears me out. I loved the indoor picnic they had. Trust Shirley to save the day!!!
I hope Edith gets some happiness…….preview for next week looks like that’s a possibility.
Did you watch the “Secrets of Highclere” that came on before Downton, UT? Very interesting. Each week the hour before will present a “secrets of…….” some great English estate. One week it will be Althorpe, Princess Diana’s home.

Was a mean one on Color Purple. I used to hate watching him on other shows for years because of the way he treated Whoopie’s character. She was going to slice his throat and I wish she did. He was a dog and I guess he is one in real life too.

Nor I, dotster. I read earlier of her bogus and overblown self-intro to her new seat. I donated to her campaign also, even tho I don’t live there, as I felt a woman would be a great improvement and hopefully a dynamic change. I will be writing to her tomorrow, but expect not to hear back as I am not her constituent. If she screws up, I surely won’t donate to her again. This mindset is unbelievable, just unbelievable.

GM Isonprize. Alycee’s comment is in regards to the Ball & the Parade which is not on the Mall and require tickets but to answer your question the public viewing of the Inauguration covers the entire Mall so yes you can just show up. There were people all the way back to the Washington Monument in ’09 and yes there is security to make sure that not everyone rushes to the front. Once a section is deemed full they close that section and move the crowd to the next section on the Mall.

Hint: We were in the very first section for public viewing the last time but we got to the Mall at 5:00AM.

By the way, yardarm,I should confess that I am technologically challenged and that’s why I am always making requests of you and Dudette because I still don’t know how to post the music that I love so much. I am sure you must have some favorite pieces in your basement of Wes Montgomery, Milt Jackson, Ramsey Lewis, and other Jazz greats, that you can share with the TOD family to energize us. I am a very stronger believer in the therapeutic benefits of Jazz and blues.

Coldplay is one of the best bands around. Their early stuff was amazing. Just amazing and they’ve kept at if for years. Even people who rag on them move their heads and bop to the music when Coldplay comes on.

I think it’s so funny! The one thing that Morning Jock has done is be critical of the President on Afghanistan, attacking him from the left non stop.
So, the President nominates a Dove to be SecDef and Morning Jock can’t even stick up for him.
Further proof that what Morning Jock says about Afghanistan is BS!

Meta, you were right the tickets for the Ball & Parade turned out to be a fiasco. Apparently ticketmaster sent out the email for tickets before they were supposed to and many of the tickets were purchased during their “test run”. They sent us an apology email around midnight so there is still a very small chance for those of us that wanted to attend to purchase the few remaining tickets. Sigh!!

Last week, two-term Representative Steven Palazzo (R-MS) sparked controversy nationwide when he voted against relief for victims of Hurricane Sandy, despite representing coastal Mississippi, one of the regions hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina and a top beneficiary of Katrina disaster aid.

But in addition to representing the region today, Palazzo was deeply involved in pressing for federal dollars in the fall of 2005. Then acting in his role as a local government official, Palazzo repeatedly appealed for federal funding to help rebuild his battered coastal Mississippi community in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Palazzo’s future congressional district, including his hometown of Biloxi, Miss., was ravaged by the 2005 storm. Roughly a month after Katrina made landfall, Palazzo — then Deputy Director and CFO of the Biloxi Housing Authority — did not mince words when he addressed what was necessary in order to repair the damages.

“We will rebuild and we’ll provide homes for those displaced; but we cannot do that until it is funded,” Palazzo said in a pamphlet published by the Biloxi Housing Authority and still available online. “We’re ready to do the work- but we simply do not have the financial resources on our own to handle a catastrophe like Katrina.”

The American political process is being hijacked by a reckless, whining dangerous gang of psychologically damaged white men who are far-right ideologues. I used to be one of them. It’s time to tell the truth about our white male problem.

Not everyone who disagrees with the president is a racist. Not even most people who do are. But the continuous attempt by the white far-right in Congress to shut down the government rather than work with our black president has a lot to do with racism. And lurching from manufactured crisis to crisis isn’t about politics; it’s about pathology. It doesn’t make sense politically to take the blame for risking America’s future — and the Republicans know they will take the blame — so how can we conclude other than something else is going on here?

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It’s not considered polite to mention race anymore. But I’m going to mention it anyway. We have a white problem.

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I spent my youth not only as part of the Republican Party but helping to organize the culture wars that have come near to destroying our country. I have worked with the very kind of people who are now the hard-core Republican right. But I have changed my views. I may not be one of them any longer, but I bring an insider’s knowledge to the table.

You are absolutely right 99ts! Sadly, there are many of the so called leftists who are just as a racist as the righties, but in a paternalistic way. While the right wingers strongly feel that President Obama shouldn’t be president because he is black, the holier than thou left wingers believe that since President Obama is black, and they supposedly voted for him, then he must do everything they tell him to do because, by virtue of their whiteness, they know better than he does. Of course, no one dare accuse these lefties ( some of them very prominent) for being racist because, after all, they claim to have voted for Obama. It’s just that they don’t believe that he is naturally smart enough to make intelligent decisions if he doesn’t follow their directives and guidance.

Every time we have another of these mass slayings and speak of gun control, weapon sales go up. And guess what? As journalist Lee Fang reports in The Nation, “For every gun or package of ammunition sold at participating stores, a dollar is donated to the NRA.” Customers can make a contribution at the point of purchase or the gun companies make an automatic donation every time the cash register rings. Last year, just one of those merchants of death, Midway USA, used one of these NRA programs to give the gun lobby a million dollars.

When caught in the stalemate of a political debate, the advice of Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion and a social psychologist in the New York University Stern School of Business, is to save our breath–or at least recognize that what we think we’re arguing about isn’t really what we’re arguing about. Haidt believes that most political debates, at least the way they’re usually conducted, are useless because the underlying issues aren’t what they appear to be on the surface. Politics, he says, is ultimately about our stance on fundamental moral beliefs and group loyalties–things that aren’t usually influenced by facts, figures, or rational policy debate. In the interview that follows, he offers a perspective on why we vote the way that we do that differs from what you’re likely to read about in our mainstream election-season coverage.

McCain never got over the fact that President Obama, or, as he said in one of the debates, “THAT ONE” thoroughly defeated him. Everything McCain does is all about trying to revenge his defeat by the President. What a very, very , very small man! Sure McCain always has Lindsay Graham (who may have a crush on him) on his side, but that does not absolve him from his petty meanness against the President.

GM all. The R’s aren’t just nuts – they’re out and out dumb. Emboldened by their Rice bullying they are now gonna do the same to Hagel – just at the moment they will be obstructing over the debt limit. If people weren’t fed up before by Republican obstructions they sure as heck will be once nomination hearings happen. It will weaken their propaganda efforts to paint PBO as the ‘big spender’ – all everyone (including most of those who dont normally pay attention)will see is a bunch of foaming at the mouth crazies who are now so unhinged that they are turning on their own to try and take down the Pres. PBO will look like the civilised leader he is – who even reaches out to Republicans so much that he puts them in his cabinet against a bunch of bitter, moronic, assholes. That story about Hagel saving McConnell’s brother in Vietnam is a doozy – nice guy that Mitch McConnell.